Athletic Training

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914 edition. Excerpt: ... PREFACE The following pages constitute the legacy which Michael C. Murphy has left to the boys and young men of America, and, indeed, to the whole athletic world. They contain the results of thirty years spent in the development of track and field athletics as a science. Because of his wonderful success in turning out intercollegiate, Olympic, and world's champions, he was always recognized, even by his rival coaches, as the dean of his profession. He entered the profession at a time when the training of athletes was not recognized as a science, but he devoted to it a keen understanding of human nature and a rare genius for discovering new and improving old methods of promoting athletic efficiency. At the time of his death, on June 5, 1913, he was rightfully credited, both in this country and in Europe, with having made the most important contribution to a science which has 282205 produced a cleaner, sturdier, and more intelligent manhood wherever amateur athletics have been fostered. Mr. Murphy began the preparation of this text shortly after his return from the London Olympiad in 1908. He wanted this to be the most comprehensive book for the guidance of athletes, and to include all the information he had obtained in the course of his career as an athlete, coach, and observer. He wanted it to be of lasting benefit to the boys and young men of his native land, and to that end he worked as industriously on the manuscript as his failing health would permit, rewriting and revising it from time to time. The manuscript was finally completed in the early spring of 1913, during his last illness. Fearing that he might never live to see the book published, he finished the dictation from his sick-bed, and the editor has completed the revi